Frequently asked questions - Wikimedia Foundation Governance Wiki

Frequently asked questions

This page lists frequently asked questions about the Wikimedia Foundation. Other questions are addressed at Answers. If you do not find your question answered here or there, please feel free to contact us.

What is Wikipedia?

Wikipedia is an online collection of knowledge written by volunteer editors from every corner of the globe. It is a collaborative creation that has been edited by millions of people from around the world since it was created in 2001: anyone can edit it, at any time. Volunteer editors collaborate to write articles about virtually any topic, from ancient history to science to the arts. Wikipedia is offered in hundreds of languages containing a total of more than 45 million articles. Wikipedia is completely non-profit, independent, and maintained by everyday people around the world.

How does Wikipedia maintain reliability and neutrality?

Wikipedia's volunteer contributors use reliable sources to support information included in Wikipedia articles, so readers can explore the sources that verify the facts. In order for content to remain on Wikipedia, it must be written from a neutral point of view and attributed to a reliable source. Volunteers collaborate openly and use a variety of mechanisms like bots and monitoring tools to regularly review edits made to Wikipedia and ensure they meet content standards. Wikipedia is based on an open model, so its content is constantly evolving, growing, and improving over time. Unfortunately, vandalism of Wikipedia articles does occasionally occur. However, the vast majority of editors contribute in good faith and most vandalism on the site is removed quickly, often within minutes, by volunteers.

What is the Wikimedia Foundation?

The Wikimedia Foundation is the nonprofit organization that supports Wikipedia, the other Wikimedia free knowledge websites, and its mission of free knowledge for all. We do this by keeping the Wikimedia sites fast, secure, and available to all, defending Wikipedia and our volunteer editors from legal threats, building new features and tools to make it easy to read, edit, and share knowledge from Wikimedia sites, and by supporting the communities of editors who contribute to Wikipedia and the Wikimedia sites. We also help bring new knowledge online, lower barriers to access, and make it easier for everyone to share what they know.

The Wikimedia Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization with offices in San Francisco, California, USA.

What are the other Wikimedia free knowledge projects you support?

In addition to Wikipedia, the Wikimedia Foundation supports a number of free knowledge projects, including:

How is the Wikimedia Foundation funded?

The Wikimedia Foundation is funded primarily through donations from millions of individuals around the world. The average donation is about US$15, and we are grateful that so many people find value in Wikipedia and want to sustain its future. We also receive donations through institutional grants and gifts (please see our benefactors page for more information).

The Wikimedia Foundation has 501(c)(3) tax exempt status in the United States. Donations made from other nations may also be tax deductible (see tax deductibility for more details). Click here for details on how to make a donation via credit or debit card, PayPal, Amazon and several other methods. If you have any questions, please contact us at donatewikimedia.org.

Why should I donate and where does my money go?

Donations to the Wikimedia Foundation help sustain free knowledge through Wikipedia and our ecosystem of projects. Your contributions support technology to keep the sites fast, secure, and accessible; for Wikimedia programs and initiatives to expand access and support free knowledge globally; and for grants to volunteer contributors to improve and enrich the knowledge on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia sites. Your donations support this work, and so much more, to ensure Wikipedia remains accessible and valuable for many generations to come.

How can I donate?

There are several ways you can donate to the Wikimedia Foundation to support Wikipedia and free knowledge. The most common are using any major credit or debit card (VISA, MasterCard, Discover or American Express), using PayPal, via bank transfer, and via Amazon. For other ways to contribute, including via an automatic monthly gift, check or money order and payroll deduction, please visit our Ways to Give page. Many currencies are accepted.

What is your donor privacy policy?

We are committed to protecting the privacy rights of our supporters and will not share, sell, or trade your email address with anyone. Please see our Donor Privacy Policy for full details.

Are my donations tax deductible?

What is your refund policy?

If for any reason you wish to have your donation refunded, please contact us via email at donatewikimedia.org and include the following information:

Full name of donor

Date of donation — All refund requests must be made within 90 days of donation

Amount donated

Payment method used — Do not include credit card numbers in your email

Country of origin

Reason for the refund

All refunds will be processed as quickly as possible, but processing times may vary depending on the payment method. Please note: Some payment methods may not support refunds or require refunds to be made through the payment method (card) utilized, prompting additional information to process your refund.

Is Wikipedia, or the Wikimedia Foundation, affiliated with WikiLeaks?

Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation have no affiliation with WikiLeaks. Although both use the term "wiki" in their name, they have always been completely separate and unaffiliated projects.

Why are there no ads on Wikipedia?

We are not considering advertising as a source of revenue. We do not believe that advertising belongs in a project devoted to free, reliable, and neutral knowledge. Introducing commercial interests could jeopardize Wikipedia’s reliability as a neutral source of information.

We are not against online advertising, nor are we against other organizations that host ads. We just know ads are not appropriate in a project devoted to education and knowledge – and especially one that strives for balance and neutrality.

Where can I find more financial information?

The Wikimedia Foundation's 2016 - 2017 annual report covers the fiscal year from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017. The Foundation's annual report shares some of the voices of the hundreds of thousands of people who make the Wikimedia movement possible.

The Wikimedia Foundation 2017-2018 Annual Plan describes our budget for the current fiscal year. It contains a summary of our strategic goals as an organization, financial details on spending and revenue, and detailed explanations and risk analysis.

What is the Wikimedia Endowment?

The Wikimedia Endowment was created in 2016 to support and sustain Wikipedia and the Wikimedia projects for generations to come. Donations to the Wikimedia Endowment are used and maintained in a separate fund that is managed by Tides Foundation and overseen by an independent Advisory Board. Donations to the Wikimedia Endowment are separate from reader donations we receive from banners that appear on Wikipedia. You can learn more about the Wikimedia Endowment here.

What are the plans for Wikimedia's future? Where are you going?

At the beginning of 2017, the Wikimedia Foundation launched a global discussion to define the future of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia movement by the year 2030. We call it Wikimedia 2030. Throughout the process, we asked ourselves questions like, where might we want Wikipedia, and the Wikimedia movement, to go next? What opportunities and challenges lie ahead of us? What trends in technology, education, information, and access will shape our future?

Based on this discussion and our research, we are uniting around a direction that will help us build a more sustainable, resilient, and engaged movement that anyone who shares our vision can join. We will adapt to the shifting trends in technology, to ensure we meet the needs of our users and continue to provide reliable, transparent, and neutral information. We will invite new voices to join us and ensure that anyone who wants to share knowledge on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia sites can do so. And we will advocate for the policies and values that have allowed Wikipedia and its sister sites to thrive. This direction asks us to be bold and experiment in the future, as we did in the past, and it remains rooted in our mission of free knowledge for all.

To read more about Wikimedia 2030 and the direction for our future, please visit 2030.wikimedia.org.

How can I participate in Wikimedia?

We encourage everyone who finds value in Wikipedia and free knowledge to join our movement. There are many ways you can participate, including:

Make an edit! See a Wikipedia article that could use improving? You can make it better. To learn more about how to start editing, check out the Teahouse for help from more experienced editors and the Getting started guide.

Are you a developer? You can contribute code to Wikipedia and the Wikimedia sites. Find the guide for new developers on MediaWiki.org.

How can I contact the Wikimedia Foundation?

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact us. For donation questions, please email donatewikimedia.org.

Due to the volume of inquiries we receive, we use Zendesk as a donor response platform. By emailing [email protected], you understand that your information will be processed by the Zendesk Group in accordance with Zendesk’s terms. Users from the following countries should consult Section 13 of Zendesk’s privacy policy for more information about Zendesk’s country-specific practices: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and Singapore.